The principal of a reputed school in Pune's Talegaon was assaulted on Tuesday by Bajrang Dal activists for allegedly promoting Christian prayer in school and installing CCTV cameras in the toilets meant for senior girls students. Parents demand action against the school principal and coordinator
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The principal of a reputed school in Pune's Talegaon was assaulted on Tuesday by Bajrang Dal activists for allegedly promoting Christian prayer in school and installing CCTV cameras in the toilets meant for senior girls students. Parents demand action against the school principal and coordinator.
On Tuesday, July 4, a group of men from the Hindutva outfit Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) shouting "Har Har Mahadev' and 'Jai Shri Ram' publicly assaulted the principal and ripped off his clothes. The next day a video of the principal being assaulted and humiliated went viral on social media.
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Alexander Coates Reid, principal of D Y Patil high school at Ambi MIDC area of Pune's Talegaon is seen chased by a mob.
On Thursday close to 100 parents went to the school to discuss the matter, after the management sent a representative.
Parents however say the issues as publicised on social media are not just about the objection over the Christian prayer but over school authorities misbehaving and humiliating students.
"We did hear about CCTV being installed inside the girls' toilet but had no proof. However a few of us visited the school to complain about the school coordinators' bad behavior towards our children which is when we demanded that we want to see the washroom. To our shock the girl's toilet on the fourth floor, where senior classes are, had CCTV installed near the washing area, while the toilets are right in front. While the school management justified the move by stating that some kids leave the taps open etc. Is CCTV needed inside a washroom or toilet?," ask a parent of a student studying in class 8
"The management representative who visited the school on Thursday not only gave us a hearing and acknowledged our complaints. But also said that management was unaware of all this, and he assured action will be taken against those found guilty," the parent added.
Another parent said, "My daughter had not tied her hair in white ribbon. I understand it is wrong, but they made her shift and place desks and benches in the class as punishment. When I raised the issue, she was humiliated in front of her classmates. Other students were told nobody can share their notes with her. The coordinator often told the other students that she is silly. This affected my daughter a lot."
A parent of a girl student studying in class IX said, "We have no objection to school not conducting Christian prayers, I myself studied in a convent school, but once my daughter told me that a teacher was reprimanded for playing 'Aigiri Nandini, (a prayer of goddess Parvathi) in the class. And now the matter is being blown up in a different way making it a religious matter. If this was just a religious matter for which the principal was assaulted, why has the management or chancellor/ founder of DY Patil not issued any statement on the matter yet? That is because the management was unaware of all these things, including a CCTV being installed inside a washroom, the representative from the management who met us (parents) on Thursday said that."
Parents have recorded a video of CCTV near the girl's washroom and submitted it to the local police station along with a complaint letter. They have demanded an FIR be registered against the management and Principal.
When contacted, Police Inspector Ranjeet Sawant of the Ambi MIDC police station at Talegaon said "A few parents, along with representatives of Bajrang Dal, assaulted the principal on Wednesday. About the prayer on which objection was raised, ‘Our Father who art in Heaven',” parents said it is a verse from the Bible. But we found there is nothing controversial about the prayer."
Sawant said that the camera to which the parents objected was not inside the toilet cubicle but outside. "We are still investigating the matter based on the letter submitted by the parents. The school has not registered a complaint. Preventive action against those who assaulted the principal based on the video," he said.
Meanwhile, Somnath Dabhade, a VHP office bearer in Pune said, "There are numerous complaints from parents against Reid and his senior staff members. Parents complained that Reid seldom met parents, and the receptionist and school coordinator were extremely rude to the parents. When 90 percent of the students in the school are Hindu and the school is not even a convent, why have a Christian prayer daily? Why install CCTV inside the girl's washroom, even if it is not inside the toilet cubicle, why should they even have it outside the cubicles? We went there in large numbers so that the management would hear us out and we wanted to seek answers to these questions. Reid pushed one of the parents (a woman) who was complaining to him on campus. Which is when the chaos began and the angry group chased him and beat him up."
The management representative has assured action against the principal Reid and three others including the co-ordinator, and two teachers, said Dabhade adding " We haven't got any written acknowledgement yet. The management also said they will investigate and file a police complaint against the guilty."
Sudam Walunj, an official from the education department, said "The complaints of parents were heard on Thursday and action would be taken against the principal and others guilty by the school management."
While Principal Reid could not be contacted, despite repeated attempts, Dr Vijay Patil, chancellor and president of D Y Patil University did not respond.
Meanwhile, famous Fashion photographer Atul Kasbekar responded to the viral video of the assault on Principal Reid on Twitter. Kasbekar tweeted: "We’ve managed to normalise this and empowered an illiterate mob by the law/ policing of the land either seemingly powerless or looking the other way In some cases aiding and abetting. No words other than It’s a slippery slope of no return."
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